Pipe-wrench.



A. S. ERQUHART & J. G. HUMMEL. PIPE WRENCH.

APPLICATION rum) 511.24, 1911. I

Patented July 2, 1912.

Q WITNESSES Q 29 V 0 ATTORNEY ALLEN S. ERQUHART ANT) JAMES CFHUMMEL, OF COALINGA, CALIFORNIA.

. PIPE-WRENCH.

Specification of Letters latenh Application filed February 24, 1911'.

Batented July 2', 1912. Serial 1N0. 610,647.

To all whom it con com:

Be it known that we, ALLEN 'S. Enqunan'r and JAMES C. HUMMEL, citizens of the United States, residing at Coalinga, in the county of Fresno and State 0t California,

have invented a new and useful Pipe- Wrench, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to improvements in pipe wrenches or tongs and its ob ject is to provide a Wrench especially adapted for use in connection with deep well casing's, wherein a single wrench is adapted. without change to be used for the screwing together or unscrewing of casings of different diameters, while those parts of the wrench which areliable to wear are readily replaceable and the wrench may at any time be restored to its original condition of'usefulness at-a very small cost.

The wrench comprises a handle member with a loop at one end made up of a number of link structures so disposed that the loop may be brought into contracting relation to a pipe or casing, whereby the movement of the handle to screw up or unscrew the pipe will tend to cause an increasing grip on the pipe, so that the wrench will not slip thereon,'but on the application of 'a suitable force to the handle, the pipe will be turned in the desired-direction, while the movement of the handle in the other direction will immediately loosen the wrench from the pipe. Furthermore, the loop is readily separable at a convenient-- point for the introduction of the wrench on the pipe or the removal of the wrench therefrom,

although this separation. of the wrench is notnecessary where the 'wrench is applied to an unconnected end of. the pipe.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description, taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawingsforming a part of this specification, with the understanding, however, that while the drawings illustrate a practical embodiment of the invention it is susceptible of other embodiments difiering in details of construction-from the showing of the drawings,.and, therefore, the invention is not confined to the exact form delineated in the drawings.

In the drawings igure 1 is aplan view of the wrench as applied to a pipe or casing, the latter bein shown-in cross section. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of a portion of the the wrench and showlng it applied to a pipe of smaller size than in Fig. 1. F ig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. I. Fig. 4 1s a section on the line H of Fig.1. Fig.

5 is a perspective view of a connecting pin Fig. 6 1s a perspec which may be employed. tive view of one of the links of the pipe grasping loop. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the serrated pipe engaging jaws or-blocks.

' wrench on a plane parallel with the face of Referring to the drawings, there is shown a handle member 1 Which may comprise a straight bar of suitable cross section depending upon the size of the wrench and the material from which it is made, but this handle member 1 is always made of sufiicient strength and the proper material to withstand any strain which may be put upon it. At one end the handle member 1 is formed into an eye 2 and at the other end is formed with an ear 3, while adjacent tothe end having the ear 3 the handle member is pr0- vided with another ear 4 projecting at substantially right angles to the handle and the body of the latter is cut away on opposite sides of the ear to form recesses The ears 3 and 4 are connected to opposite ends of a loop composed of linksfi, 7, and 8, and a. compensating connecting member 9, but this particular number of links is not mandatory, since .a greater number otlinks may be used,'although in the majority of cases the number of links shown will be ample. Y y

In Fig. 6 the link 6 is shown separately, but as the link 7 is identical with the link 6 a description of the link 6 will apply equally to the link 7. Each link is curved on the arc of a-circle and is provided with a central boss 10' and terminal cars 11, 12,

respectively, there being asingle ear lland a pair of s aced ears 12 at the respective opposite en s of the link, the car 11 being designed to enter between corresponding ears 12 of the next link, while the ears 12 of the link 6. are designed .to embrace the ear 3 of the handle 1 to be there held by a- .pivotpin 13 traversing the ears 12 and the intermediate ear 3, so that the link ,6 is pivotally connected to the corresponding end of the handle 1. The car 11 of the hnk '6 enters between thecars 12 of the link 7 and is there pivotally held by. a pivot pin 14.

The link 8 is longer than either the linle Ger 7 and iscompoun 1y curved havingone end 15 curved into general conformity with pin 18 may 10 of either link 6 or 7.

the links 6 and 7 and the other end .16 reversely curved, while at an intermedlate point there is formed a boss 17 like the boss The end 15 of the link 8 terminates in spaced ears 12 and the end 16 -of the link 8 terminates in a single ear 11. The ears 12 of the end 15 of the link 8 embrace the corresponding ear 11 of member 9 differs from otallyconnected thereto by a pivot pin 22,

. and projecting while the ears 12 at the other end of the link 9 are in embracing relation to the ear 11 of the extension 16 of the link 8, and these ears are connected together by a ivot pin 23 having a head 24 at one end an a manlpulatlng eye 25 on the said head," while the other end of the pin 24 is formed with an extension 26 of reduced diameter terniinatlng in screw threads, to which maybe a'pplied a nut 27 having a manipulating rin 28 or other means of turning the nut, so t pin 23 is ineifect abolt permitting the connection and disconnection of the links 8 and 9 at their respective ends when such may be desired. 7 I

Each boss 10 and 17 is providedon' the inner curved or concaved face with a recess 29 extending transversely to the length of the link, and centrally through this recess in radial relation to the axis 0 to'one exposed face of the boss, this passage 31 being designed for the reception of a set' screw 32. ceive a head 33 having "a serrated face 34, from the side remote from the face 34 the stem 35 designedto traverse the passage 30 and to be engaged by the set screw 32. The serrations 34 extend in the .same direction as the length of the recess 29 and when these serrations or teeth are applied to a pipe they extend lengthwise thereof. r

All the heads 33 which constitute the grip-ping members of the wrench may be serrated, or some may be serrated and others smooth, depending upon the size of the wrench and the grlpping action desired, but in either instance the heads 33 constitute the sole pipe engaging portions of the;

a head 20 carrying an eye 21 links 7 and 8, whereby 7 .and 8 in havingpairs of ears.

at the curvature of' the boss there is formed a perforation .30

entered by athreaded passage 31 extending" The recess 29 is designed to re-' head 33 is provided with a wrench and as these are the portions particularly subject to wear, it will be seen that should the active faces of these heads become Worn they may be readilyremoved andkt-hrown away L andv new. heads substituted, since-they may be very cheaplyprod'uced.

In Fig. 1 the wrench isshown applied to a pipe or casing 36 and in Fig. 2 the wrench is shown applied to a casing37 of smaller diameter, the application of the wrench in each figure being such as would result in the unscrewing of the pipe were the wrench moved in the proper direction, which as viewed in the drawings is counterclockwise, the pipe threads being usually right-hand threads. a

The wrench is placed upon the pipe by separating the loop made up of the several linksei-ther by disconnecting the links 7 and 8 by the withdrawal of the pin 18, or by disconnecting'the links 8 and 9 by the removal of the'pin'or bolt 23, but in either instance after the loop end 50f the wrench-has been placed in encircling relation to the body of the pipe the removed in is replaced, and then upon applyinga orce to the handle 1 in the proper direction, the serrated faces of the heads 33 are brought intoengagement with the outer surface of the pipe at suitably spaced points therearound. Further movement of the handle 1 tends to carry the pin 13 toward the end 16 of the link 8, and

at the same time the end 16 of the link 8 is urged toward the pin 13, the forces acting mutually, but the forces are resisted by the engagement of the heads 33' with the pipe,

"so that the serrated faces 34 are forced into gripping engagement with the outer surface of the pipe, which gripping relation is sufficient to prevent slipping of the wrench upon the pipe and, the force being suflicient, the pipe is constrained to rotate in adirection which .in the particular showin of the drawings tends to unscrew the pipe rom another pipe to which it is'assumed to be screwed, usually through the intermediary of a suitable coupling. The more force there is applied to the handle 1 the tighter will the device grip the pipe'.

The active momment of the handle 1 is away from the l' 8., but this link is prevented from moving because ofthe engagement of its gripping head- 33 with the pipe. Thelink 9 un e'r these circumstances becomes a compensating pivot connection between the end 16 of the link 8 and the'ear 4 of the handle 1. The result of this is that the handle 1 becomes a" lever of the first order with the ear 3 on the shorter end and the link 6, and following ,it the link 7 is brought toward the pipeuntil the gripping heads 33 carried by these two links tightly grip the pipe, thus arrestin further movement of the lever in'depen ent of rotative movement of the pipe and when this point is reached, further force applied to the handle 1 in the same direction as before will, because of the gripping relation of the faces 34 of the heads 33 with the pipe, cause the latter to turn.

By arranging the parts so that the gripping heads 33 between them embrace an are greater than one hnudred and eighty de-' Wrench will operate upon, but it will'also operate upon all intermediate sizes.

The work the wrench will do is limited only by the strength of the material used, while at the same time but few parts are provided, and those parts liable to rapid wear are readily replaceable. may at any time be restored to itsoriginal efliciency after the jaws or heads 33 have become worn by replacing such jaws with new ones at but slight cost. These jaws are seated in the recesses 29 with only the portions immediately back of the serrated faces 34 projecting, whereby the twisting strain is borne by the bosses 10 and 17, respectively, and the pins or projections 35 are relieved from such strain and may be utilized solely for holding the jaws to the-respective links The wrench,

without liability of loss, but in such manner that these jaws may be readily relieved from operation is desired.

What is claimed is A pipe wrench comprising a manipulating handle and a pipe embracing loop at one end of the handle expansible and contractible to include pipes of different diameters, saidloop comprising two like links connected end to end, and one of said links being connected to the end of the handle, and a third link connected 'at one end to the link remote from the handle, said third link bethe fastening'means and removed when such ing of a length substantially that of the sum of the first named links, said first named links and a portion of the third linkbeing curved to like extents with relation to a common .axis, and the third link being reversely curved at the endvremote from its connection to the first two links, and a compensating connecting member pivoted at one end to the reversely curved and of the third link and at the other end pivoted-tothe handle at a distance from the end of the latter to which the vfirst named links are connected,

all three links being provided with pipe en gaging devices spacing the links from the pipe to be engaged, and said pipe engaging devices being in all pipe engaging positions so disposed as to include an arc of more than one hundred and eighty degrees.

In testimony, that we claim the foregoing as our own, we have hereto affixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

ALLEN S. ERQUHART. JAMES C. HUMMEL. W'itnesses J. W. RYLEs, R. H. YOUNG. 

